Chalk Lettering to Keep

With chalk in hand, Dana Tanamachi creates elegant and refined custom lettering. I recently found her work and have been absolutely mesmerized by the beauty and lightness of her artistry. As faithful 973 readers know, I am always interested in typography and lettering, but finding a simple medium as chalk on a chalkboard made exceptionally stunning is truly brilliant. I hope you'll enjoy it, too.

Here's a time lapse video of Dana creating one of her pieces.

For more examples of her work see www.danatanamachi.com/chalk/

Easter Greetings from 973

Vintage card images above and more may be found here.

Earth Day - Recycle and Be Happy

We love to recycle. We love to reuse materials for new projects and the creativity they inspire. To celebrate Earth Day everyday is our motto here at 973 Third. Every little effort we make helps clean our environment. So go ahead and reduce, reuse and recycle. It's good for all of us!

Top image: Shared by a friend
Bottom image: Sand sculpture by artist Todd Brittingham titled "Sun and the Moon" at Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral, Fla., during an Earth Day celebration, The Washington Post.

Pulp Fashion - Paper Couture

An exhibition at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco features five new spectacular works of paper dresses inspired by paintings in the European collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. For more than 15 years, Isabelle de Borchgrave has been recreating historical costumes in exquisite detail, life sized and entirely of paper. Drawing from paintings, textiles, and descriptions, she has made over 60 trompe l'oeil fashion sculptures. Now, they are on view in the US.

Here's an introduction to the exhibit...

"Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave is a painter by training, but textile and costume are her muses. Working in collaboration with leading costume historians and young fashion designers, de Borchgrave crafts a world of splendor from the simplest rag paper. Painting and manipulating the paper, she forms trompe l’oeil masterpieces of elaborate dresses inspired by rich depictions in early European painting or by iconic costumes in museum collections around the world. The Legion of Honor is the first American museum to dedicate an entire exhibition to the work of Isabelle de Borchgrave, although her creations have been widely displayed in Europe."

Above, Marie Claire de Croy and child, 2010 based on the painting below,

Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, 1599–1641), Marie Claire de Croy, Duchess d'Havre and Child, 1634.

Pulp Fashion: The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave will be on exhibit at the Legion of Honor through June 5, 2011.

Top image: a detail of an elaborate paper sculpture, The Medici

Paper as Sculpture

Catching up on lots of design ideas and inspirations this season, I would like to introduce some fabulous creations I've seen recently - made of paper. Enjoy!




The paper sculpture shown here is the work of artist Makiko Azakami.

Signs of Spring

We must be getting close to spring if the cherry blossoms are coming out. This beautiful photograph by Raymond K. Gehman captures a cheery warbler perched on a cherry blossom tree near the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. The striking colors and delicate composition could inspire a wallpaper design I'd like to have at this address all year long.

Universal Design as Nouns

Free, fun, educational and loaded with really good designs - that's a winning combination. And you, the design savvy followers at 973 Third, can be part of the effort.

Check out the the Noun Project - the mission is "sharing, celebrating and enhancing the world's visual language."

"The Noun Project collects, organizes and adds to the highly recognizable symbols that form the world's visual language, so we may share them in a fun and meaningful way."

Click here for more on universal messaging.

Thanks to Grain Edit, a print design blog, for introducing us to the Noun Project.

Red Velvet Valentine Treats

Make a delicious gift this week for Valentine's Day. Here are some beautiful inspirations. Click on the images for more info, recipes, and ideas.

Romantic Fonts for Valentine's Day

Looking to make a sweet Valentine greeting for someone special? Try one of these inspiring romantic (and free) fonts to get you started.

For more Valentine's Day card ideas, click here and here.

http://www.dafont.com/james-fajardo.font (Happy Valentine's day)
http://www.fonts2u.com/windsong.font (Please be Mine)
http://www.dafont.com/fiolex-girls.font (Love from 973 Third)

17th Century Private Museums Revealed

A new exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC features rare and meticulously rendered catalogues of private collections dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. The documentation includes detailed engravings reproducing the works of art, natural history, and curiosities of these wealthy and sophisticated collectors. Some of the catalogues even include views of the museum rooms and galleries, offering a peek at their curatorial sensibility.

Collections Frozen in Time
Selections from the National Gallery of Art Library
February 5-July 24, 2011

Ikea Bookcases as Built-ins

If Ikea style may seem a little too much like grad student furnishings or first apartment hand-me -downs, take a look at the clever things Ikea Hackers have done. You'll be inspired to head to Ikea this weekend.




Click on each photo for more info.

Green Transportation

On a recent visit to New York, I happened upon this delightful confection of a bicycle on the sidewalk outside of ABC Home. I only saw it at rest, but can imagine the scene it creates when loaded with a Coco-mat mattress and heading across town en route to a delivery.
The custom made transport bicycle was created by a Dutch company, Fietsfabriek.


Click here for more on bicycles as a sustainable alternative to getting around. Click here for artful bicycle racks.

Faux Bois - Painted Grain Floor

Although I live with warm white oak floors throughout my house, I have always admired the fantastic effects of painted floors. If your floors aren't in great shape and their maintenance is an issue, an artful finish might be a beautiful solution. There are lots of successful examples of floors painted in soft and solid colors on porches or sunny rooms, or painted in two contrasting colors in a checkerboard pattern, and set on the diagonal in kitchens or entrance halls.

The bold white grain on the black painted floor above is one of the most visually exciting I have spied in an extensive personal history of admiring faux finishes. It brings a lot of fun into the room.

Faux Bois - imitation or fake wood, now refers mainly to the finished surface, but originally was used to describe the work of late 19th century French furniture makers starting with wire frames, building up a composite in the shape of the furniture piece and then painting it to resemble wood. More recently, it has become fashionable on decorative accessories as candles, tableware, paper goods and textiles.

Click here and here for more inspiration and instruction on faux finishes. Click here for DIY decorative staircase ideas.

Crochet Covered Smart Car

What do you get in Rome, when you cross a smart car with a crochet hook? Fabulous.

Happy New Year from 973 Third!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Vintage Christmas cards are great fun to share online. Click here for more vintage imagery. Click here for our favorite creative Christmas trees.

Creative and Green Gift Wrapping

Gift wrapping can be beautiful in its simplicity. Here are some ideas for inspiration from the goddess of good things, Martha Stewart. Above, brown craft paper tied with string works nicely with a fresh sprig of greens tucked in and a red bordered sticker label for a tag.

Recycling the drawings or doodles of your resident artist makes a cheerful and personal wrapping tied up with a bow.

A solid color paper or tissue looks elegant with a pretty bow and a little greenery attached.

Japanese style wrapping, furoshiki, with a piece of fabric or scarf self-tied as a carry-all is a thoughtful practice of the 3 Rs.

Natural materials as leaves and pods wrapped in rafia or grasses add an organic touch for your gifts.

Newspapers, maps, and strips of paper can be layered for an entirely recycled and creative wrapping.

Twist a sparkling or contrasting pipe cleaner into an initial or monogram to personalize your packaging.

Stamps and stickers, with a touch of red or green, make ideal tags for marking your gifts.

All images from here.

Luminarias - Lighting for Christmas Eve

Make your own luminarias (lights) or farolitas* (small paper lanterns):

Gather a handful of brown lunch bags, a bucket of play sand, a trowel, white votive candles, and a candle lighter. Open bags, fold over the top edge to shorten the height, flatten the bottom, scoop in some sand to weight the bottom and double as a fire retardant and nestle a candle in the center. Lay out your filled bags to flank the outside entrance, or line a path to the door. When darkness falls (or at the appointed hour and before guests are expected) carefully light each votive with a long handled lighter.

Beautiful, festive and very easy!

Image for inspiration: Holiday Open House at Spruce Tree House, an ancient Anasazi cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park near Durango, Colorado

*Farolita is the diminutive form of farola, the Spanish word for streetlamp.

Easy Peasy Holiday Decorations

These are frantic days at 973, as Christmas is less than 4 days away, and I am scrambling to finish putting on the holiday touches.

Still to be done: (admittedly last-minute) green, minimalist decorations


I consider this the antithesis of the NYT article in last week's Home" section, "Even the Tree Has a Stylist." If you missed the article and you are the type who can manage your own holiday decorations, don't fret. Consider yourself fortunate enough to have the creativity, vision and leadership to do what some others seeking to find beauty and comfort at home at Christmas must pay dearly for.

Images for inspiration: plain glass ornaments filled with simple compositions, from Country Living, burlap (or other recycled household textile) makes a charmingly provincial stocking, from Better Homes & Gardens.

Catching Up in Time for Christmas

After a series of real world distractions, it's nice to be back at 973. There is much to do this week and I need all the holiday short-cuts I can get!

Here's the minimalist to do list:
Trim the tree - check, Hang wreath on door - check, Send holiday cards - check, Holiday music on ipod - check, Party foods on hand for surprise guests - check, Party drinks - check, Gifts for family & friends - not finished yet! Easy decorations - to be done!

Easy decoration idea/inspiration #1: Take a white bowl and fill it with pretty red ornaments. Ta Da! This would be pretty with any monochromatic assortment of ornaments. Having something with a little white on it helps visually connect the bowl with its contents.

More to come, very soon!